02/11/2018

Mushroom Pasta Casserole makes for a perfect meatless meal In Delaware, which is a stone’s throw away from the mushroom capital of the world (Kennett Square PA), it’s easy to get carried away with mushrooms. Their variety seems endless – reliable white buttons and criminis; flavorful shitakes; exotic oysters, trumpets, enoki, hen of the woods – you name it. And to top it off, all those varieties are readily available at local grocers and specialty shops. No matter what the variety, mushrooms offer a perfect foil for these meatless dishes which are all the rage these days. Their earthy, almost-meaty...
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02/01/2018

Versatile soups such as Vietnamese Pho bridge the gap between winter and spring Regardless of whether Punxsutawney Phil pops back into his burrow tomorrow after seeing his shadow or enjoys a cloudy day underground, I’m starting to long for light spring dishes. I’m hopeful that we will have a cloudy day which signals that spring will come sooner rather than later. So, looking ahead to coming warmer weather, I’m thinking about soup. Soup is one of my favorite foods and I love making different varieties all year long, no matter whether it’s freezing cold or blistering hot outside. Most of...
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01/15/2018

Persian Lamb with couscous and many spices Ancient Rome – apparently a hotbed of treachery, deceit and amabition. At least that’s how Crystal King depicts it in her novel “Feast of Sorrow”, the current selection for the Cook the Books group. The protagonist in the book, Marcus Gavius Apicius, was a man of tremendous appetites and full of a quest for wealth. He was among the first to write about cooking. Although none of those books survive, one that bears his name, “On Cooking”, documents his gourmand tastes. I was fascinated that each chapter in King’s book begins with a...
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01/10/2018

New Mexico Beef Chili Adds a Spicy Zing to Comfort Food The holiday frigid arctic blast that sent most of us scurrying to the warmest place in the house is now just a bleak memory. But the January weather gods threaten more frigid temperatures in the coming weeks that will put the chill in our bones. Luckily we’re also deep in the throes of comfort food season. Warm, hearty comfort foods get us fed and heat us up of course, but they also lift the soul when we really need it. Here in Delaware, during the holiday season we suffered...
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12/15/2017

What's more comforting on a snowy day than hot beef barley soup Our first snow of the season came this week – if you live on the East Coast you could see it was glorious. Down came the big fat downy flakes so thick at times you sometimes couldn’t see across the yards.. Down our driveway we could see the bushes all dolled up in winter finery. Sporting hats of white fluff, they looked quite festive and gave the impression they were dressed for a party We started a fire and kept it going all day. Love those glowing embers...
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What's more comforting on a snowy day than hot beef barley soup Our first snow of the season came this week – if you live on the East Coast you could see it was glorious. Down came the big fat downy flakes so thick at times you sometimes couldn’t see across the yards.. Down our driveway we could see the bushes all dolled up in winter finery. Sporting hats of white fluff, they looked quite festive and gave the impression they were dressed for a party We started a fire and kept it going all day. Love those glowing embers...
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11/18/2017

Fresh apple pie hot from the oven what bliss Being a Midwest girl from Northeast Ohio I am particularly drawn to apples. Remember Johnny Appleseed? When we were kids my father took us and our bag of dropped apples to a cider mill nearby where our apples were popped in a bin with everyone else’s and we certainly enjoyed that pungent juice comingled with many varieties. Today most grocery stores have a full load of varieties in rotation: Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, Granny Smith, McIntosh, Rome Beauty, Fuji, Jonathan and Gala, And that's nothing compared to the 15,000 breeds that...
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07/28/2017

Sweet Fresh Corn Plays Well in Many Dishes This cycle our Cook the Books group has been reading Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking, a Memoir of Food and Longing. Author Anya von Bremzen recalls her early life decade by decade in the now defunct communist USSR and her eventual immigration to the US when she and her mother fled Brezhnev-era Russia and arrived in Philadelphia. The book was a bit tough to get through with all the Russian words and especially its references to obscure public figures. But the stories about her family and experiences were fascinating, especially her...
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05/26/2017

Awesome & practical way to use spring vegetables with rice Author Sasha Martin set out to visit 195 countries and sample their cuisines, but at the onset things took a different turn.. Sasha made her way as best she could despite very difficult family situations including the unfortunate death of her brother and stints in foster care. Despite it all, Sasha persevered and became a successful author. She said, “I realize now that life is never simple. There are many dreams in a lifetime – dreams that flourish or flounder for reasons that can be complex.” The book includes a...
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05/11/2017

mini quiches for mothers day are simple to make Whether it’s for Mothers’ Day or just because, a brunch is a no-fuss way to entertain a crowd. As we emerge from the hibernation of winter, there’s no better time to celebrate spring. Buds are greening and tulips are bursting. Spring is full of so much beauty; the tulips peaking through the dirt and the fresh rainfalls bring a feeling of renewal. This is reason alone to celebrate, and hosting an elegant, simple brunch seems like the perfect solution. From food and drinks to decorations, hosting a spring brunch is a...
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